“This (slight weakening) is not a trend. It was just that orders that came through on that day (Tuesday) were quite heavy and the market is very liquid in terms of shillings, and that somewhat caused the weakening,” he said.

Analysts at Genghis Capital said in a note to investors that the Central Bank of Kenya injected Sh10 billion into the market on Tuesday to counter any effect of increased liquidity demand by banks as they raced to meet the average monthly cash reserve ratio of 5.25 per cent of total deposits.

“We expect it (the shilling) to remain range-bound and we may see the regulator come in if it becomes too volatile,” Genghis analysts said.